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Floating Shelves: Open, Airy, and in Style

The Wall Street Journal recently posted its top home trends for 2021, outlining what is in and what is out in the world of home design. While most of the Journal’s trendspotting is true for our area, there is one statement we respectfully disagree:

“OUT: Chaos-Courting Open Shelving”

True, a kitchen with no upper cabinets and only open shelves could be your nightmare, but a few carefully placed shelves give many spaces an open, airy feel. It can provide a place for plants, display items, or other things that bring joy. You can also place often-used items within easy reach.

In addition, painted cabinets, especially white, are still trending. The clean look appeals to many and is timeless. We sometimes bring in stained open shelves to give a kitchen some warmth and to celebrate wood and craftsmanship.

Most of our shelves are built by local cabinet makers. They use a hidden cleat system that is strong and really has no limit to what, or how much, you can put on them. We have also used live edge lumber from Angel City Lumber for shelves and mantels. They mill fallen trees from around the Los Angeles area. This installation is trickier in that we must core a hole in the shelves and epoxy a dowel or rebar. We add blocking in the wall during rough carpentry and epoxy the rods to the blocking through the drywall.

Take a close look at the following picture. Do you see any tile cuts? Are we that good? Yes, but this job required a lot of planning and precise execution. The tile backsplash not only went up to the ceiling but was on both walls. The tile has a soft undulating edge that resembles hand-made tile, so we did not want to cut them horizontally — especially with a darker grout on a very light tile. We had our cabinet maker make the shelves exactly the same height as the tiles. They were fit into the space, but then removed. We then stained the shelves and had them ready onsite. Our tile setter ran the first section of backsplash and then took a break while we installed the first shelf. This process continued for the next two shelves. It’s a small detail that many would not see but makes all the difference.

As you can see by these pictures, we have added shelves in many rooms — not just kitchens. Even our design studio has them!

So, with respect to our friends at the Wall Street Journal, we will continue to suggest some floating shelves to meet our customers’ needs.

Wondering how the latest trends would work in your space? Contact us today to learn more about updating and upgrading your home.

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